


i'm underwater

by skintouch



Series: skin touch [1]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Smoking, Strangers to Lovers, ambiguous - Freeform, honestly just two fools in love, i just wanted someone to appreciate singer jeno okay, lonely boy renjun, singer jeno, this song is beautiful
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-15
Updated: 2019-11-15
Packaged: 2021-01-31 08:21:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21443131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skintouch/pseuds/skintouch
Summary: jeno never thought that a cute but mildly creepy guy waiting outside the bar door would mean everything to him.
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Lee Jeno
Series: skin touch [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1545925
Comments: 7
Kudos: 74





	i'm underwater

**Author's Note:**

> hi! this is my first fic so i would appreciate it if you guys wouldn't take it so seriously,,, this is honestly just word vomit that i obsessed over for 3 hours on a friday night. inspired by 'Real' by alphayang.

_ I’m underwater, _

_ my mind is flooded by the thought of you _

“Great show tonight, Jeno.” The bar’s manager, Mark, tells him as he’s closing up. “I’m sure you’re loaded with tips,”

Jeno counts his dollars, but it’s kind of useless since it’s a slow Tuesday night. Nothing but 30 bucks. “Not really, but thanks.”

He tells Mark goodbye, and gets ready to leave. It’s raining, a familiar scent of wet asphalt greets his nose when he steps out of the bar. He sighs, because _ of course _he didn’t bring an umbrella. Now he has to wait for the rain to stop. Of course.

“Hi,”

Jeno turns to his right, and there’s a man dressed in a hoodie and black jeans standing next to the bar’s door. Normally, people would get creeped out and completely ignore the other person, or run to the opposite direction, but Jeno’s apparently far from normal.

One look at his face and Jeno already knows he doesn’t want to turn away.

“Hey?”

The guy shifts under his weight, maybe he’s been waiting out here for a while. He pulls on his hoodie’s sleeves and asks Jeno, “Are those your songs?”

That’s a question Jeno doesn’t get asked a lot. Probably because he doesn’t get lots of attention, as most starting out musicians. And as most starting out musicians, he’s also waiting for his big break. He hopes playing at 2 bars every night and busking every weekend would get him there. 

He answers the guy honestly, adding a little bit of humor to lift the awkward atmosphere. “Yeah. Obviously Park Hyoshin’s Breath isn’t mine, but aside from that, yeah,”

The guy just smiles and to Jeno’s dismay, the conversation stops. The rain also starts to cease, _ nice. _He’s getting ready to leave, but before that he pulls out his lighter and his pack of Marlboro from his back pocket. Jeno turns to the guy and sees that he’s watching him. So he asks, “Sorry, do you mind?”

The guy shakes his head and flashes a small smile. “Not at all, go ahead.”

When the guy smiled Jeno almost drops his stick. _ He’s gorgeous. _

Jeno lights his cigarette, sucking and letting it hit his head. He knew this was a bad habit, and that he probably needs to stop, he just doesn’t want to. Doesn’t feel the need to.

He blows out the smoke and decides to resume the conversation. “I thought you were going to lecture me about the dangers of cigarettes to your health.”

“What?”

“You seemed like the type.”

The guy looked mildly offended, which Jeno liked. He liked making people flustered. He also liked how the guy’s brows furrowed a little, and with a determined face, the guy says, “You know what, let me take a hit.”

Willingly, Jeno offers his cigarette and raises his brow when the guy coughs immediately when the smoke hits his throat. He _ really _coughs.

“Wow,”

He’s still coughing, “It’s been a long time, okay?”

“Okay, no need to get defensive.” Jeno laughs a little. This guy is cute. “I’m Jeno.”

The guy offers his hand to shake, and Jeno gladly accepts. “Renjun,”

Finally, he can put a name on him. A guy this pretty just made sense to have a unique name. _ Renjun _.

“Nice name,”

“Thanks.” _ Renjun _ flushes a little. He checks his watch and with a voice laced with disappointment (?), he says, “I think I have to go, I just waited to tell you I liked your singing.”

Jeno takes a hit of his cigarette once again. And then he thinks about it. Renjun hasn’t told him he liked his singing. He just asked if those songs are Jeno’s.

“You haven’t,” Jeno blows out his smoke, “told me that, I mean.”

“Oh.” Renjun looks at him straight in the eyes, Jeno almost melts. “I liked your singing.”

Receiving applause at the end of a performance (whether sincere or not) and being told a compliment by one of the most beautiful guys Jeno’s ever seen are _ not _the same. The first one makes him feel proud of himself (kind of, on good days, at least), and the latter makes him feel like he’s achieved everything he wanted to.

“Thanks,” He couldn’t _ not _say it, when it’s the only thing that’s been on his mind. “I like your face.”

Renjun’s eyes widen at Jeno’s words, like he didn’t expect it at all. _ Wait- why is he surprised? He should be getting told that everyday. _“Okay…”

It wasn’t an awkward _okay... _but a humorous one, one that made the both of them smile and Jeno, more interested in Renjun. He was beautiful, yes, but he also had a personality. Nowadays that’s rare.

The rain has fully stopped. Renjun was about to walk to the opposite direction Jeno’s headed, when Jeno pulls his wrist lightly.

“I’ll see you again, right?” Jeno smiles at Renjun when he nods. “Get home safe.”

* * *

_ I’m under pressure, _

_ I’m shaking and I don’t know what to do _

Jeno sees the guy with the hoodie near the bar door, a familiar scene. He smiles, “You’re here again.”

_ His face never ceases to surprise me. _ When Renjun smiles, Jeno’s heart flutters. It’s a reaction he will never get, but wouldn’t complain about. “You saw me.”

“I saw just you.”

Jeno sees underneath the shitty lights of the street that Renjun’s cheeks flush, and he feels accomplished. He hasn’t stopped smiling.

“Do you want to,” Renjun awkwardly makes a gesture of taking a shot, and Jeno finds it adorable. “get a drink?”

There’s nothing he’d rather do than get a drink with Renjun. Getting a drink with him also comes with getting to know him, and that’s a deal Jeno _ loves _. 

“I’d love to, Renjun.”

* * *

_ But I will not stop, _

_ I know there’s magic between us two _

Weeks pass by and they keep the same routine. It’s honestly become Jeno’s nightly highlight. For Jeno, who’s had a fairly uneventful life, it feels good having something to look forward to.

It’s been almost a month since Renjun approached Jeno outside the bar like a dangerous man. _ You had a full on black hoodie and everything! _They sometimes make fun of it over a couple of drinks.

And here they are again, a beer in each of their systems, talking about themselves (last week, Renjun told Jeno he first went to the bar because he failed to get enough units to graduate. He needed a drink. If that didn’t happen, they probably wouldn’t know each other, and the mere thought sends shivers down Jeno’s spine.), and indulging in each other’s presence. Like some love sick nerds.

“Do you like me?” Jeno asks.

“I’ve been coming to see you sing for weeks, I would assume you already know the answer to that.” Renjun laughs and takes a swig, the last, of his beer. “But yeah, I think I do.”

“Cool.”

“Do you like me too?”

“Yeah.” Jeno finds himself always honest to Renjun. He never felt like he had to put on a persona, like he’s cooler than he is, he just does him. It’s nice that Renjun likes Jeno for the real him. “A lot, actually.”

“Let’s date, then.”

* * *

_ Baby, oh baby _

_ Show me somehow this is true _

Jeno must admit, Renjun liking him _ is _ nice, but Renjun _ kissing him _ is a feeling he can’t even put to words.

Renjun’s hands travel to Jeno’s face and it’s taking everything in him to not smile and break the kiss. Jeno focuses on kissing him, indulging him, but he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t _ not _smile!

“Sorry,”

They bump their foreheads, and stay like that for a couple of seconds. Foreheads touching, Renjun’s hands on Jeno’s face, both out of breath and smiling. Like fools.

Renjun breaks the silence first, staring at Jeno’s flushed face for almost a minute, and finally blurts out the words that’s been bugging him all week. “I love you.”

_ Fuck. This is real. _

“I love you too.”

* * *

_ Baby, oh baby _

_ Show me somehow this is real _

_ Baby, oh baby _

_ Show me the things that you feel _

As soon as Jeno’s done with the first part of the song, he wants to cry. There, sitting at the front row, was the love of his life, beautiful as always. Renjun was looking straight at him, and Jeno, like many months ago, still melts at his gaze. He could never get used to it.

Many months ago; before he got discovered and signed under a small label, before his song _ Real _ hit the top of the digital charts, before he got “fame”. Before all of that, he had one thing: he had the love of his life, supporting him at every gig and event. Renjun never got tired of supporting Jeno’s dream, and Jeno never got tired of showering him with kisses as a symbol of gratitude.

Jeno mouths to Renjun a small, _ I love you _ before he starts the next line.

_ I'm round in circles _

_ I'm going back and forth about this now _

It was about his dream, not Renjun. It took a while for him to have his big break, Jeno faced a lot of rejections, criticisms and hardships that he even thought about quitting. He was stuck in a rut for a week during the harshest of winter, but it only took Renjun’s warm words of motivation and his never ending patience to pull Jeno up back on his feet.

Jeno never had doubts about his lover, Renjun never gave him the chance to have them. Renjun was quiet, he showed his love through actions, not much words. Jeno was quite the opposite; up to this day, he wakes up next to him and the first words Jeno says is _ good morning, my love _. Although they had different languages of love, it worked and it’s been working for a while.

_ It's undeniable _

_ We saw a spark that both of us allowed _

He turns to Renjun and he sees him mouth an _ I love you too _. If the heart’s walls could crash and collapse, Jeno’s pretty sure it would happen to him. Before Renjun, Jeno didn’t know he was capable of loving a person this much. 

Loving all of him, from the obvious ones like his face, his angelic voice, his values to the hidden ones, his flaws, his mistakes, his past... Funny enough they’re the things Jeno loves about him the most.

He sings the next lyrics with one thing in mind: Huang Renjun, I love you.

_ Baby oh baby _

_ Show me somehow this is real _

_ Baby oh baby _

_ Show me the things that you feel _

**Author's Note:**

> thank u so much for reading! i'd love to hear if u enjoyed it <3 lov u ;;
> 
> https://twitter.com/yukmeat  
https://curiouscat.me/hheartbeat


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